Preventing a moldy smell in laundry is an important part of washing your garments and linens properly. If your laundry smells mould, you are not keeping your laundry fresh and clean. You probably don't want to wear garments or use linens that have a mouldy scent. Do less work in the laundry and get things properly clean by reading these steps and avoiding getting the scent of mould on clothes.

Steps

1

Wash laundry and remove it from the sink or washing machine as soon as practicable. Clean, dry laundry does not smell mouldy. Dry your laundry outside if possible. If you cannot dry outside on perfect breezy, sunny day, dry inside in a well ventilated, warm room or use a tumble dryer. You can dry laundry at the laundromat too.

2

Wash damp laundry as soon as possible. If your shirt got wet in the rain, you have wet dirty towels, your bathing suit is wet from a trip to the pool or your kid pissed the bed, wash this damp laundry as soon as possible.

Allowing damp laundry to sit in your laundry room can encourage mold growth and stains to develop on your cloth.

3

Keep up with your laundry.

Soiled laundry is a prime place for mold to grow, even if it isn't wet. Mould can grow on even small food stains, apparently. Mould can also appear on clothes if the place where the clothing is kept is at a certain temperature and humidity.

4

Use bleach, if you like everything to be pale. Remember bleach will lighten dark colours. Love your navy jeans? Don't bleach them.

Adding regular bleach or color-safe bleach to laundry loads can help remove and prevent the scent of mold on clothes.

5

Add vinegar to your wash.

Vinegar can naturally deodorize clothes. Simply run your washing machine like normal and, while the machine is filling up with water, add vinegar into your washing machine in lieu of detergent. If you prefer to use detergent in the wash, add the detergent as usual and then add vinegar during the cycle's final rinse.

6

Rewash your clothes.

If you've left your clothing in your washing machine for several days and find that they smell moldy, rewash your clothes like you normally would. Use hot water whenever possible.

7

Pre-treat clothes with mold or mildew remover before washing them.

Color-safe oxygen bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and borax, or combinations of these, can be used to soak and pretreat mold and mildew stains before they go into the washing machine for a wash. Pretreating with these items can ensure the success of mold smell removal from your clothes.

Applications of these solutions can be done with a sponge. Some clothing may be able to be soaked in the solutions for a period of time.

8

Rinse the articles of clothing to get any loose mold off of them before inserting the clothing into the washing machine.

9

Store your clean clothes with scented dryer sheets.

10

Leave the washing machine's lid up when you're not using it. This will allow air to enter the machine and dry excess moisture. Look for products that clean your washing machine. Don't let the so as p drop get gunky.

11

Clean your washing machine every once in a while by letting an empty cycle run. Instead of clothes, put bleach into the machine and run the cycle as usual.

12

Consider making modifications to your home.

Cracked mortar, inadequate drainage, and poor ventilation in a home can provide the conditions that encourage mold growth. Repair anything that keeps the humidity high and the moisture locked into your laundry room, and you might see a reduction in the incidence of mold smell.

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Tips

Clothes that have actual mold on them will have to have the mold removed before they undergo a standard wash. It's not enough to wash clothes in regular cycles if mold has already presented itself.

Research solution recipes made out of color-safe oxygen bleach, hydrogen peroxide, white distilled vinegar, and borax. To find the best one for your clothes, take your specific clothing type and the degree of mold and mold smell on it into consideration.